II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1426 

To amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to expand 

the purposes of the corporation, to designate the United States Center 

for Safe Sport, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports 

Act to expand the purposes of the corporation, to designate the United States Center for Safe Sport, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Center 

5 for Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF THE PURPOSES OF THE CORPORA2 TION. 

3 Section 220503 of title 36, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(15) to promote a safe environment in sports 

11 that is free from abuse, including emotional, phys12 ical, and sexual abuse, of any amateur athlete.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THE UNITED STATES CENTER FOR 

14 SAFE SPORT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2205 of title 36, United 

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘Subchapter III—United States Center for 

19 Safe Sport 

‘‘220531. Designation of United States Center for Safe Sport. 

‘‘220532. Additional duties. 

‘‘220533. Records, audits, and reports. 

‘‘220534. Authorization of appropriations. 


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1 ‘‘§ 220531. Designation of United States Center for 

2 Safe Sport 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Center for 

4 Safe Sport (referred to in this subchapter as the ‘Center’) 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) serve as the independent national safe 

7 sport organization and be recognized worldwide as 

8 the independent national safe sport organization for 

9 the United States; 

10 ‘‘(2) exercise jurisdiction over the corporation, 

11 each national governing body, and each paralympic 

12 sports organization with regard to safeguarding 

13 amateur athletes against abuse, including emotional, 

14 physical, and sexual abuse, in sports; 

15 ‘‘(3) maintain an office for education and out16 reach that shall develop training, oversight practices, 

17 policies, and procedures to prevent the abuse, includ18 ing emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, of ama19 teur athletes participating in amateur athletic activi20 ties through national governing bodies and 

21 paralympic sports organizations; 

22 ‘‘(4) ensure that the policies and procedures 

23 under paragraph (3) include requirements that all 

24 national governing bodies and paralympic sports or25 ganizations follow the policies and procedures of the 

26 Center; 


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1 ‘‘(5) maintain an office for response and resolu2 tion that shall establish mechanisms that allow for 

3 the reporting, investigation, and adjudication of al4 leged sexual abuse in violation of the Center’s poli5 cies and procedures; and 

6 ‘‘(6) ensure that the mechanisms under para7 graph (5) provide fair notice and an opportunity to 

8 be heard and protect the privacy and safety of com9 plainants. 

10 ‘‘(b) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Center may, in its dis12 cretion, utilize a neutral arbitration body and de13 velop policies and procedures to resolve allegations of 

14 sexual abuse within its jurisdiction. 

15 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

16 this section shall be construed as altering, super17 seding, or otherwise affecting the right of an ama18 teur athlete to pursue criminal or civil justice 

19 through the courts. 

20 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the Center, and each national governing 

23 body and paralympic sports organization, including 

24 any officer, employee, or agent thereof, shall not be 

25 liable for damages in any civil action for defamation, 


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1 libel, slander, or damage to reputation arising out of 

2 any action or communication, if the action arises 

3 from the execution of the responsibilities or func4 tions described in this section, section 220532, or 

5 section 220533. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 apply in any action in which the Center, a national 

8 governing body, or a paralympic sports organization, 

9 or an officer, employee, or agent thereof, acted with 

10 actual malice, or provided information or took action 

11 not pursuant to this section, section 220532, or sec12 tion 220533. 

13 ‘‘§ 220532. Additional duties. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) develop training, oversight practices, poli16 cies, and procedures for implementation by a na17 tional governing body or paralympic sports organiza18 tion to prevent the abuse, including emotional, phys19 ical, and sexual abuse, of any amateur athlete; and 

20 ‘‘(2) include in the policies and procedures de21 veloped under section 220531(a)(3)— 

22 ‘‘(A) a requirement that all adult members 

23 of a national governing body, a paralympic 

24 sports organization, or a facility under the ju25 risdiction of a national governing body or 


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1 paralympic sports organization, and all adults 

2 authorized by such members to interact with an 

3 amateur athlete, report immediately any allega4 tion of sexual abuse of an amateur athlete who 

5 is a minor to law enforcement authorities and 

6 other appropriate authorities, including the 

7 Center, whenever such members or adults learn 

8 of facts leading them to suspect reasonably that 

9 an amateur athlete who is a minor has suffered 

10 an incident of sexual abuse; 

11 ‘‘(B) a mechanism, approved by a trained 

12 expert on child abuse, that allows a complainant 

13 to report easily an incident of sexual abuse to 

14 the Center, a national governing body, law en15 forcement authorities, or other appropriate au16 thorities; 

17 ‘‘(C) reasonable procedures to limit one-on18 one interactions between an amateur athlete 

19 who is a minor and an adult (who is not the mi20 nor’s legal guardian) at a facility under the ju21 risdiction of a national governing body or 

22 paralympic sports organization without being in 

23 an observable and interruptible distance from 

24 another adult, except under exigent cir25 cumstances; 


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1 ‘‘(D) procedures to prohibit retaliation, by 

2 any national governing body or paralympic 

3 sports organization, against any individual who 

4 makes a report under subparagraph (A) or sub5 paragraph (B); 

6 ‘‘(E) oversight procedures, including reg7 ular and random audits conducted by subject 

8 matter experts unaffiliated with a national gov9 erning body or a paralympic sports organization 

10 of each national governing body and paralympic 

11 sports organization to ensure that policies and 

12 procedures developed under that section are fol13 lowed correctly and that consistent training is 

14 offered and given to all adult members, and 

15 subject to parental consent, to members who 

16 are minors, regarding prevention of sexual 

17 abuse; and 

18 ‘‘(F) a mechanism by which a national 

19 governing body or paralympic sports organiza20 tion can— 

21 ‘‘(i) share confidentially a report of 

22 suspected sexual abuse of an amateur ath23 lete who is a minor by a member of a na24 tional governing body or paralympic sports 

25 organization, or an adult authorized by a 


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1 national governing body or paralympic 

2 sports organization to interact with an 

3 amateur athlete who is a minor, with each 

4 of the other national governing bodies, 

5 paralympic sports organizations, or facili6 ties under the control of such entities; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) withhold providing to an adult 

8 who is the subject of an allegation of sex9 ual abuse authority to interact with an 

10 amateur athlete who is a minor until the 

11 resolution of such allegation. 

12 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed to limit the ability of a national 

14 governing body or paralympic sports organization to im15 pose an interim measure to prevent an individual who is 

16 the subject of an allegation of sexual abuse from inter17 acting with an amateur athlete. 

18 ‘‘§ 220533. Records, audits, and reports 

19 ‘‘(a) RECORDS.—The Center shall keep correct and 

20 complete records of account. 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The Center shall submit an annual 

22 report to Congress, including— 

23 ‘‘(1) an audit conducted and submitted in ac24 cordance with section 10101; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) a description of the activities of the Cen2 ter. 

3 ‘‘§ 220534. Authorization of appropriations 

4 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the Cen5 ter— 

6 ‘‘(1) for fiscal year 2017, $1,000,000; 

7 ‘‘(2) for fiscal year 2018, $1,000,000; 

8 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 2019, $1,000,000; 

9 ‘‘(4) for fiscal year 2020, $1,000,000; and 

10 ‘‘(5) for fiscal year 2021, $1,000,000.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 220501(b) 

12 of title 36, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through 

14 (8) as paragraphs (5) through (9), respectively; and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) ‘Center’ means the United States Center 

18 for Safe Sport designated under section 220531.’’. 

Æ 


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